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Spring is nearly here and with it the anticipation of upcoming summer music festivals; give me that special aroma of exotic foods mixed with the unwashed masses and I am in my element. There are thousands of festivals in the UK alone during the summer months, bringing people together from a variety of backgrounds, cultures and areas, attracted for the same reasons; the atmosphere, passion for the music and the thrill only experienced at an open air festival.

Whether you are a regular festival groupie or have been saving like crazy to get to that one special event this year, then you need to think about getting your tickets now before they are all sold out. If the festival you want to go to is a huge event, such as Glastonbury or WOMAD, tickets will be in demand and are likely to sell out in record breaking time. Once you know the date of the festival, find out where to buy your tickets from and when they will be going on sale.

The best place to start looking for your ticket is to search the internet, this is a great source of information and advice and often you will be able to buy a summer festival ticket online with no fuss. These call centres work from the same database as you can access directly, so it makes sense to sit at home in comfort and do it yourself online.

For big festivals there are a number of agents authorized to sell tickets on the promoters’ behalf. They sell the tickets at their face value and add on a booking and processing fee, usually around 5-10%, for their service. You might have heard of some of the well-known agencies.

If you do find that it seems as if all the tickets are sold out don’t give up that easily as tickets usually go back on sale again closer to the date of the festival. The reasoning behind this is that musical festivals are given permission to operate with a certain capacity awaiting fire and safety checks. After these checks have been made and plans finalized then they receive the actual allowed capacity, which is always higher, and so at this point they can release more tickets. Keep checking out the web sites for tickets if you couldn’t get them before.

Another option open to you if you are finding it impossible to get a ticket is the resale market. Always ensure you use a secure exchange system which can provide guarantees that if you’re a buyer you get your tickets and if you’re a seller you get paid. EBay always has tickets on sale for music festivals, theatre tickets and concerts and is a secure site so see what is available.

When desperately seeking festival tickets be cautious of whom you are buying from as there are loads of touts eager to rip you off or sell counterfeits, it’s always best to buy from the official websites and agents. Ensure any online exchange you use is trustworthy; it’s possible for anyone to create a website or procure links on Google. Lastly, never buy tickets outside the grounds as this is the most common place for fraud. Forgeries can look as good as the originals these days and as you are getting turned away from the door the tout will have disappeared.

The 14th Bahrain International Music Festival which took place last year in November 5-11 brought in musicians from France, Palestine, Oman, Egypt and Iraq. I was only able to watch the performance oft he Manama Singers and Orchestra with their Haydn Imperial Nelson Mass and the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra.

Overall the performance was great. It was held in the newly built Cultural Hall. I can say that the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra with its conductor, Leif Sundstrup gave the best performance in the week long event. The Manama Singers also did an excellent job with their conductor Alistair Auld who is the formost conductor in the island kingdom.

There were several important guests, dignitaries and musicians alike. The President of the Royal Society of Music, Mr. Carrillo said that the performance made by the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra was the best musical performance he has ever seen. The event was a success if their aim is to improve Cultural life in Bahrain. For a country with not much history in music, the Bahrain International Music Festival seems remarkable to have succeded with many people who attended.

Most singers have one major problem when starting out in the music industry… ‘How do I get myself noticed?’. Yes, there are plenty of other singers out there, and often it’s not enough just to be a better singer than them. But having a great voice is a fantastic start.

So, you’re nearly there! The next thing that you can do as a singer to set yourself apart from other singers is to perform some great original music! Original music is the best thing you can do as a performer. But how do you get original music?

There are three ways to get original music:-

1. Write your own songs.

2. Co-write songs with other musicians.

3. Find songwriters who are not also performers. (There are plenty of songwriters around on the internet).

So first let’s clear up some common questions I regularly get emailed to me about song writing!

Do I need to be able to read / write music in order to write songs?

Of course you don’t… There are plenty of singers and songwriters around who haven’t got the first idea about how to read music, let alone write it. As long as you can record it down in some way (a Dictaphone will do) then you’ve got all the equipment you need.

Remember, music existed long before people developed systems to write it down. It was even more recently that people developed ‘Music Theory’ as a way of explaining how music works. In fact I can pretty much guarantee you know LOADS of music theory, just having listened to music. I think everyone who has a interest in music should take the time to look at a basic Music Theory book especially songwriters, as you’ll find that learning a little bit about how music works will help you enormously with basic things like song structure and working out what chords go with which notes.

Do I need to be able to play an instrument in order to write songs?

As a singer you already play one of the best instruments you can possibly own. Using your voice to work out tunes is by far the easiest way of writing music.

The other really common instruments that are used by singers / songwriters are the guitar and the piano (or electronic keyboard). If you can get access to one of these instruments they that can be a great start (I’m sure you know someone with an old guitar you could borrow). You don’t have to learn how to play these instruments at a performance standard, just use them as a tool to help you develop your ideas.

So how do I start writing music?

Music is so diverse that there is no way anyone could actually tell you how to write a song. In this series of articles we will be discussing topics such as ‘What elements make up a great song’, and ‘Get inspired to write lyrics’. These articles, and many more are available by signing up to my free singers newsletter, a must read whether your an amateur or a pro!

You’ll most likely write some pretty bad tunes when you start out. Everyone does. That’s ok, don’t get disheartened. With practice and inspiration, hopefully, you’ll start writing some music that you’re happy to play to people.

Just keep trying, and above all, enjoy making music.

While gifting your loving child personalized kids CDs you might hardly think that music, the most entertaining subject for kids, can be ever boring for him. But, it has been noticed that many children withdraw themselves from music following various significant reasons. Though parents make use of various types of kids personalized music, which play a significant role for children’s education, they fail to understand what kind of songs and rhymes are interesting for the kids. Once they can understand the factors that trigger boredom in children while listening to music, they can create a better platform for the kids.

Traditional Pattern of Listening to Music

Have you ever thought of creating the best environment for your child? What else have you done for your child in spite of gifting Kids personalized CDs to improve the interest of your kids for music? What your plans are of keep the interest of the child growing with his growing age? If you are sending your kid to music schools, are you sure about the lesson plans and the teaching methods that they are following? Have you discussed with your child regarding the genre of music that he likes or the kind of songs he wants to listen to? Have you ever thought of the reasons for which music gets boring for your kids?

If you analyze the answers to the question you can understand what distracts your kid from music. It’s crucial that children should enjoy music. Introduction of kids personalized music is a great way to keep the young learners from losing interest in learning and playing music.

Lack of Exposure to Diversified Genre of Music

Often, parents and at times, teachers in schools follow the traditional songs and singing pattern with the same old music for years together. They do not feel the necessity of introducing different genre of music which is more attention grabbing for the toddlers. The parents do not try to understand that not all kids have similar taste and, their child might not be interested in that particular stream of music. But they try to impose it on the kids. It makes the children withdraw themselves from listening to songs even if they are kids personalized music and customized in the most impressive way.

The best way to keep the children from getting bored of music education is to introduce them to different genres of music. Parents can get help from kids personalized CDs and introduce their children to different types of customized songs and rhymes so that the kids come to know about various types of music. It is in fact a great way for children to get rid of the monotonous songs that gradually becomes boring for the kids.

Lack of Positive Environment at Home

Most parents relax after sending their children to music classes and expect their children to become genius. This attitude has changed the musical taste of the children who lack necessary inspiration at home. Sometimes parents don’t have interest and time to know what kind of music their children listen to. Often, the busy schedules of the working parents have demotivated many children to generate interest in music. But, the truth is, it is the environment at home that triggers interest in the children.

You can create a healthy surrounding of music at home for your children by gifting your loving child with personalized kids CDs. They are not only inspiring for the kids but also educational and entertaining.

It is very natural that the children will get bored of any learning process, even if it is music. This can happen if they proper learning process has not been considered by teachers, coaches, etc. The teachers and parents should pay attention to every single aspect of music learning to make it an interesting part of their lives and not a forceful implementation of any learning process. With personalized kids music there are chances of developing kids taste for learning and playing music.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macau SAR Government presents the 22nd Macau International Music Festival (MIMF) from October 5th to November 2nd, 2008.

The Macau International Music Festival, since decades, has been bringing internationally renowned artists to Macau. Every year, performances at the Macau International Music Festival are of the highest order and offer a delicate balance of Eastern and Western forms of music. Along with promoting Macau tradition and culture, the Macau International Music Festival seeks to expose the communities in Macau to diverse musical forms, and in the process enrich the cultural experience in Macau. This year the focus is on opera, symphonic, choral and chamber music, as well as contemporary, folk, pop and jazz music.

The 22nd Macau International Music Festival will see none other than Britain’s National Orchestra – The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra giving the opening performance. This is their first performance at the Macau International Music Festival and it will be conducted by Principal Guest Conductor Leonard Slotkin. (5/10, at the Macao Cultural Center Grand Auditorium, 8pm). It is of course common knowledge that ever since its inception by Sir Thomas Beecham, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has, under his guidance and vision, been known to perform some of the greatest compositions the music world has ever heard.

The Macau International Music Festival will also see performances by the third largest symphony orchestra in Canada – The Grammy Award Winning (2008) Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, conducted by its Music Director, the British conductor Bramwell Tovey. (14/10, MCC-GA, 8pm) Joining this orchestra is the 28 year old Grammy Award winning violinist Hilary Hahn. Hilary Hahn, today, is one of the most sought after and acclaimed performers on the concert circuit.

The Macau International Music Festival promises to be more colorful and louder than ever with over seventeen different artists performing across genres as diverse as traditional, classical, pop, jazz and opera from different countries like Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Portugal, the USA, Canada, Australia and Mainland China.

Music lovers all over the world, be ready to experience Macau from a different perspective. You can enjoy the music, atmosphere and glamor while staying at a luxury Macau hotel. Macau is well known for its sophistication, so you’ll find nothing but the best in hotels such as the Sands Macao Resort Hotel.